Snow throwers



J. HABAN SNOW THROWERS Feb. 25, 1969 Filed Feb. 1, 1966 INVENTOR JOSEPH HABAN v Feb. 25, 1969 J. HABAN 3,429,061

SNOW THROWERS Filed Feb. 1, 1966 v I QQgaM 22 "IF/ a 23 \if Hm? W: A I II? Z4 wum J1 INVENTOR 52/ JOSEPH HABAN ATTORNEYS United States Patent "'ice 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A snow thrower having a horizontal auger housing with a drum rotatable therein, pivoted rigid thrower blades intermediate the length of the drum for directing snow toward an intermediate discharge conduit, the drum having two helical series of closely spaced rigid flails on one side of the discharge, one series within the other, disposed to feed snow in one direction toward said thrower means, and having two helical series of flail members, one within the other, on the other side of the discharge, arranged to deliver snow in the opposite direction, the flails being formed by bars pivoted to the drum and having intermediate twists so that the planes of the outer ends form the helical path.

This invention relates to improvements in snow throwers.

Heretofore snow throwers have been proposed which have an auger housing with an open front for receiving snow and which have a discharge spout in connection with the housing. Within the housing is an auger shaft having a rigid type, helical auger blade for delivering the snow to thrower elements which discharge it through the discharge spout. With this type of construction, when the machine encounters hard snow or ice it is diflicult, unless there is substantial excess power, for the thrower to carry through without jamming. In addition, hard snow, ice, or rocks may cause permanent damage to the device.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved snow thrower of the auger type in which the auger blades are constructed in a novel manner to provide flexibility.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a snow thrower of the class described in which the auger means is formed by series of flail members pivoted to a driven shaft and arranged helically with respect to one another so that when the shaft is rotating the flail members are thrown outwardly by centrifugal force to in effect form continuous auger blades.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device as above described wherein each pivoted flail member is formed by a bar with an intermediate twist so that the outer portion of the bar is disposed in a helical path to coact with adjacent flail members in creating an anger effect to feed the snow axially of the drum toward the thrower blades.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device as above described wherein the thrower members are pivoted to the auger drum.

A further object of the invention is to provide a snow thrower in which the auger housing has a top shelf portion spaced substantially above the flail members and provided with a forward edge located at least as far forwardly as the forwardmost projection of the flail members during operation, and in which there is a front wall projecting downwardly and rearwardly from said edge toward the flail members to act as a guard and also to direct any carryover snow in a downwardly direction toward the road.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists of the improved snow thrower, and all of 3,429,061 Patented Feb. 25, 1969 its parts and combinations, as set forth in the claims, and all equivalents thereof.

In the accompanying drawings, in which the same reference numerals designate the same parts in all of the views:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, principally in side elevation, of the improved snow thrower, only part of the propelling tractor being illustrated;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the rotor alone, the flexible blades being shown in outwardly-extended position;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating one of the flexible flail elements alone and in an outwardly-extended position;

FIG. 4 is a transverse vertical sectional view through a snow thrower;

FIG. 5 is a straightened-out, developed view of the rotor showing the arrangement of flail holders, the flails being inserted in a few of the holders and illustrated in their cooperative relationship, and the thrower blades being shown in position;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view showing one of the thrower blades and its mounting, with the thrower blade being in outwardly-extended position; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of the rotor showing how the device may be converted to lawn mowing by substituting flail elements for the thrower elements.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the improved snow thrower is illustrated in the form of an attachment which can be connected to a small tractor in a manner well understood in the art. It may, however, be a permanent part of the tractor. The device includes an auger housing 15 having an arcuate back wall 16 and having end header members 18. The housing also includes a top shelf portion 17 having a downwardly and inwardly inclined front wall 19 having a lower edge 20 which terminates just short of the extremities of the flail members when the latter are extended, as shown in FIG. 4. Suitably supported for rotation within the housing 15 and between the end headers 18 is a central auger drum 21 (see FIG. 2). Secured to the periphery of the drum in manner shown in FIG. 5 are a plurality of U-brackets 22 having spaced legs projecting radially outwardly from the rotor. Pivotally mounted in each bracket on a transverse pin 23 is a novel flail member 24 (see FIG. 3) of steel or equivalent material. The inner end of each flail is pivotally mounted on its pin and, in addition, it is mounted for free axial sliding movement on the pin between the legs of the bracket. Each flail member is twisted intermediate its length as at 25. In actual practice for snow throwing the metal bar stock from which the flail elements are formed is preferably two inches wide.

Referring now to FIG. 5, it is apparent that the pins 23 in each bracket all extend parallel to the axis of the rotor. The base for each bracket extends at right angles to the axis of the rotor. The brackets are arranged in courses to provide in effect a double spiral on each side of the transverse center line of the rotor. One spiral course S on each side of the transverse center leads to a special bracket 26 for a thrower 27. The other spiral course S on each side leads to a thrower bracket 26' which is positioned from the thrower bracket 26. The thrower bracket 26' supports a thrower blade 27'. Each thrower blade assembly comprises bars 28-28 to which thrower blades proper are welded or otherwise secured, each thrower blade being preferably concave in cross section. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, when the thrower blades are in the extended position of FIG. 2, which position is brought about by the action of centrifugal force, it is to be noted that the twists of the blades and the arrangement thereof creates an auger effect.

The auger drum 21 is adapted to be driven in any suitable manner, such as from a power takeoff on the tractor or by a separate motor, at a speed of between 800 and 1000 r.p.m.

At the upper portion of the wall 16 midway of its length is a discharge opening 29 (see FIG. 4) which extends from point 30, which is at an approximately horizontal transverse center line of the rotor, upwardly and forwardly terminating short of the extreme top of the housing as at 31. A discharge outlet pipe 32 is preferably positioned somewhat rearwardly of a normal location whereby the center line of the pipe is close to the tips of a thrower blade when one of said blades is in the position of FIG. 4. With this arrangement, snow thrown upwardly by each blade has less friction with the Wall of the pipe 32 and with the Wall of the deflector 33, the latter being mounted for swivelling movement on the upper end of the pipe 32 as is common practice. It is to be noted from FIG. 4 that the thrower blades 27 and 27 are non-radial with respect to the center of the auger shaft 21. This arrangement is so worked out that the top faces of the blades face the discharge opening 29 for a relatively long period of time during rotation toward the opening so that the maximum amount of snow is thrown in the direction of the discharge opening and so that a minimum of snow is carried around past the discharge opening. In this way there is greater etficiency of discharge. It is to be noted from FIG. 4 that the outer edges of the thrower blades travel close to the arcuate back wall of the auger housing 16. The discharge duct 32 has a rear wall portion which is upright, the lower end of which is adjacent the lowermost marginal portion 30 of the discharge opening 29. By being offset rearwardly as shown in FIG. 4 from both the tips of the thrower blades and the marginal portion 30 the blades tend to throw snow along the center line of the discharge duct 32 and the snow which is moving upwardly in contact with the lower portion of the arcuate wall 16 of the housing is suddenly relieved from friction with this back wall portion and, due to the rearward offset of the rear wall portion of the outlet duct 32, the snow continues its upward movement without substantial contact with said rearwardly-oifset rear wall portion of the duct 32. In this way friction during discharge is minimized and efliciency of snow discharged increased. The action is substantially improved as set forth in my application Ser. No. 203,606, filed June 19, 1962, by having a downwardly-facing opening 34 between the lower end of the rearwardly-offset back wall portion of the discharge duct 32 and the point 30. With the thrower blades moving at high speed in a counter-clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 4, a suction effect is created at the opening 34 so that a column of air under pressure and at high ,velocity enters the adjacent opening and travels upwardly along the back wall portion of the discharge duct, as fully set forth in my copending application above referred to. This column of air further minimizes the possibility of snow contacting this back wall and aids in moving the snow freely upwardly.

Operation In operation, when the auger drum is rotated and when the device is pushed along the road, the flail members 24 will be thrown to radially outwardly extending positions as shown in FIG. 2, to in eflect form helical courses S one on each side, to feed snow toward the thrower 27, and also helical courses S one on each side, to feed snow to the other thrower 27'. The twisted ends of these flail members are disposed in helical paths to coact with each other, when acted upon by centrifugal force, to create an auger effect to continually feed the snow toward the thrower blades at the center. As the snow is fed toward the central thrower blades the latter, due to their non-radial position as shown in FIG. 4, will start directing the snow toward the discharge opening 29 Well in advance of arriving at the discharge opening and will continue to direct snow upwardly into the discharge opening until the blades have practically left the discharge area. With this arrangement there is a relatively small carryover of snow and very eflicient discharge. By having the top housing extend forwardly as at 17, and by having the downwardly and rearwardly inclined front wall 19, any snow which is carried over is discharged in a downwardly directed to be again picked up by the plow.

During operation, the pivoted flail elements create a hammerrnill effect on any chunks of snow to pulverize the latter and prepare them for more eflicient discharge by the thrower blades. By forming feed augers through the novel arrangement of series of pivoted flail elements there is a flexibility provided which permits the snow thrower to carry through difl'icult frozen spots without requiring excess power. Furthermore, the flexibility prevents damage to the blades and the power train, as they can pivot when encountering hard ice, stones or other obstructions. Thus the improved snow thrower can handle all types of snow without stalling and without danger of having parts broken.

The throwers are in a non-radial position during operation, as heretofore described, because the thrower elements 27 and 27' proper are welded to the undersides of the bars 28-28 so as to locate the mass in such a way that the center of gravity of the thrower assembly is oif center with respect to the mounting pivot. Thus cen trifugal force naturally causes the assembly to assume the non-radial position illustrated in FIG. 4.

If it is desired to convert the machine to a lawn mower, the thrower blades 27-27 are removed, as shown in FIG. 7, and two flail elements 24' are substituted in each pair of thrower brackets 26 or 26, as shown in said figure, and the flail members are interchanged from one side to the other so that every other flail 24 is twisted in a reverse direction from the adjacent flail, as shown in FIG. 7. However, for leaf shredding the arrangement is the same as FIG. 5 except that flail members (like 24' of FIG. 7) replace the throwers 27 and 27' of FIG. 5.

While this invention has been described more particularly for use with a snow thrower, it is to be understood that the use of a series of flail members arranged in a helical path around a drum and pivotally connected at their inner ends thereto to cause feeding in an axial direction of the drum may be used for other purposes, such as for material conveying, to replace the conventional rigid, blade-type auger.

Various other changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and all of such changes are contemplated as may come within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a snow thrower having an auger housing extending transversely of the direction of movement of the machine and having an open front for receiving snow and having snow discharge means in connection with said housing, an auger supporting drum rotatably mounted in said housing to extend longitudinally thereof and transversely of the direction of movement of the machine, thrower means connected to said drum adjacent said discharge means, and anger means located between the periphery of the drum and said housing for delivering snow to the region of said thrower means, said auger means being formed by rigid flail members arranged in helical paths around said drum and pivotally connected at their inner ends thereto, said drum being adapted for rotation at such a speed as to cause the flail members to be projected to radial positions during operation, and the flail members being of such length that, when projected, their inner ends coact with the housing to create a hammermill effect on snow, and the helical arrangement of the flail members around the drum providing for transverse feed movement of snow in a direction axially of the drum toward said thrower means, the drum being of such large diameter as to accommodate at least two helical series of closely spaced flail members, one within the other, disposed to feed in the same axial direction toward said thrower means.

2. A snow thrower as claimed in claim 1 in which each flail member is a bar of substantially uniform width with an intermediate twist so that the outer portion of the bar is disposed in a helical path to coact with adjacent flail members in the helical series in creating an auger effect around the drum when the flails are projected.

3. A snow thrower as claimed in claim 1 in which there are brackets secured to the periphery of the drum and in which the thrower means includes a thrower member having an inner end pivotally connected to one of said brackets and having an outer throwing end.

4. A snow thrower as claimed in claim 3 in which the thrower member includes spaced bars and in which the outer throwing end comprises a thrower blade rigidly connected to edges of outer end portions of said bars.

5. A snow thrower as claimed in claim 1 in which said thrower means is pivotally connected at its inner end to the drum.

6. A snow thrower as claimed in claim 1 in which the discharge means and thrower means are located intermediate the length of the drum and in which the auger means includes two helical series of flail mmebers, one within the other, positioned on one side of the discharge means and arranged to deliver snow in one direction thereto, and two helical series of fiail members, one within the other, on the other side of said discharge means and arranged to deliver snow in the opposite direction thereto.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,836,023 5/ 1958 Caldwell 5624 2,990,667 7/1961 Schwalm 5624 3,084,493 4/1963 Kucera 5624 3,115,714 12/1963 Johann 37-43 3,230,645 1/1966 Lutz 37--50 3,321,851 5/1967 Fisher 3725 ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner.

E. H. EICKHOLT, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 5624, 294 

